Where we were…are?

For those persons living in the past 2018 is approaching but for us it seems to have gone away. 2019 has arrived and it has brought along with it a surge in the sightings of UFO… television shows and new ideas about supernatural phenomena which will, once again most likely, be disregarded by popular paranormal reality shows. Twilight Zone is being rebooted, Unsolved Mysteries is being rebooted, Ghostbusters is being rebooted and the rebooted In Search Of has been booted off television. Project Blue Book is being watched by millions of people who don’t really care about UFOs and it so horribly represents the actual UFO phenomena it is the perfect representation of the real Project Blue Book.

But now, we move forward. Now, we brush aside the horrible CGI UFO YouTube clips and hoaxed bigfoot reports in order to remember that more and more people are shaking of the ghostly chains of the past which kept the anomalistic fields separate for so long. UFOlogists are talking to ghost-researchers, cryptozoologists are talking to witches, and TV demons are being replaced by conversations about the nature of good and evil. People are asking deeper and more insightful questions and not expecting to find an answer but instead are looking to exchange their weird ideas with others who think as weirdly as they do – and I am proud to announce that we are weirder than we’ve ever been.

To those people new to the fields of anomalistic research who may have some doubts about the possibilities for advancement in the years ahead, I have doubts too but I would remind you that just 20 years ago people were stockpiling water, food, and gold for the great crash of Y2K and those fears were unfounded. 7 years ago fears overwhelmed many as we expected the apocalypse of 2012 only to be served the actual disaster of the John Cusack movie of the same name. Sometimes things get better.

In these troubled years just passed, Weirdos like us have been going through a long nightmare of TV shows about demons, movies about demons, of terrible recreations of hauntings, and people whose only goal is fame, interrupting and obfuscating the true and important work which many of us struggle to bring into the light. Even more deeply, we have gone through a long, dark night of the soul of the Weirdo. But now that night is ending. Now we must let our weirdness take flight, stand proud and tall, even if most of us are introverts and dislike dealing with other people. If ever before, now is the time for weirdos to unite.

Four the Future

Today I shall present, to our very odd community, four fairly decent goals for each of us to try and achieve.

1. Diversify your weirdness.
If you research ghosts why not also read a few books on the UFO phenomena and cryptozoology? If you wander fields looking for Bigfoot why not also wander through some allegedly haunted locations in search of ghosts? If you continually scan the skies for flying saucers why not also keep an eye out for thunderbirds? Try some witchcraft, look for gnomes, get out there and be as weird as you claim to be and be weird in as many ways as you possibly can…then get weirder.

2. Continue to not know.
Search, read, ask, discuss, challenge your ideas and after all is said and done continue to be confounded. Believing you’ve discovered THE answer to any “paranormal” phenomena is the surest way to lock all of the mental doors you’ll need to be open to continue on your quest for knowledge. Let your “best guesses” get better and allow your ideas to evolve as new and strange information is collected and if necessary, as it should be if you are being honest with yourself, admit when you don’t know what the hell is going on.

3. Remember, you got weirder… other people can too.
We all pretty much started off weird. We didn’t know how to talk and we were just little crazy weirdos running around pooping and peeing our pants. Some people grew up and into their weirdness, while others grew away from it. Everyone is at a different stage in accepting their weirdness and everyone can get weirder than they currently are. Remember that we are here in this world together to help each other realize the incredibly beautiful strangeness that surrounds us in all of the forms it takes. There are some people you can easily discuss odd phenomena with, but there are others just starting their journey and they need to be eased into the odd lest they get too weirded out too fast and shrink from the ideas being presented. Gauge the situation, know your surroundings and proceed on the path to higher strangeness you’ll meet all kinds of wonderful people at different junctions on that road and they all have a contribution to make.

4. Your weird story is enough.
The world of weird, odd, “paranormal” phenomena is not a contest. If you’ve seen one ghost and someone else has seen thirty ghosts that person isn’t any better or worse than you. If you’ve seen strange lights in the sky and someone else has been abducted by aliens this doesn’t mean the “abducted” person is any more informed than you might be. Different people have different experiences. You don’t need to have continual weird experiences in order to be utterly fascinated and informed on the supernatural. We are individuals and experiences are individualized. Your story whether vast and complicated or just slightly simple and strange is important and as important as anyone else’s story. Too many people, for whatever reason, start to feel that they should have more paranormal/supernatural/anomalistic experiences in order to make themselves more “interesting” so they will begin to “alter” their experiences. There is no need to make a strange experience stranger or to turn 3 experiences into 30…one is enough. Many of the deepest-thinking, most incredible researchers to the fields of research, in which we are interested, never had a single “paranormal” experience and yet they made some of the most valuable contributions simply by “thinking” about what seemed to be happening to others. Your weird experience, no matter what it is or isn’t is enough. Your story is important and it should be shared without any fear or trepidation that it is somehow lesser than any other.

And I want to add, as we make these changes, we work together to improve these ideas, that our intention is not scapegoating or finger pointing. If you read the papers or watch TV you know there’s been a rise these days in a certain kind of ugliness: uninformed comments, trolling, an increased sense of division.

Really, this is not us. This is not who we are. And this is not acceptable.

It’s a weirdo tradition to show a certain skepticism toward anomalistic phenomena. I myself have sometimes thought I alone could make a “breakthrough.”

But we should deliberate, and we should discuss, and that is how we move forward, that is how a “breakthrough” is made.

And there’s a mood among us. People are frustrated. There has been talk of decline. Someone even said researchers are lazy and uninspired.

Moods come and go, but weirdness endures.

And maybe for a moment it’s good to remember what, in the dailyness of our lives, we forget.

We are still a tiny speck of dust in an infinite cosmos as well as a gigantic force in the microcosm.
We still really have no idea what is going on.
We still seem to be sharing a wildly weird reality that is ever-changing and filled with the unknown waiting to be known.

18 Comments

Samantha

Bravo my brother. Thank you for continuing to stimulate and probe the weirdness lobe in the back of all our minds. For we are not to know all the answers, but we should enjoy the journey whilst looking.
Much love to you and to all, and may the god or goddess of your choice bless you from above… or wherever they are off having their picnic.

Christy Martin

February 15, 2019

You intrigue me in the weirdest way…. I will continue to be the weird one in my bunch! Well said by the way!

Terri Doyle

February 15, 2019

As always John, you are right on point. I’m proud to be a weirdo…and even more proud to be your friend.
Weirdos unite!

Cassandra M Rousseau

February 15, 2019

Wonderfully written and I agree. We need to work together no matter what area of the unexplained one might be into. It’s always best to listen to other opinions because it gives a fuller picture and could possibly lead to even more breakthroughs.

Dawn Wessel

February 15, 2019

Yes! Finally, a plan for the future that I can guilt endorse! Wise words, my friend. Rather than exclaiming “stay weird”, as I have in the past, I will move forward with “GET WEIRDER!!!”

Dawn Coeur

February 15, 2019

There is a synchronicity for me of you posting this today. Thanks for being your weird wonderful self! I hope all who read it reach for those goals.

John Miko

February 16, 2019

John, once again you astound me with your keen insight and observations. Well said my fellow weirdo. We need to expand our horizons and reach out to each other.

Valerie Miko

February 16, 2019

Love your perspective. I’m excited to see what the universe brings us in the next 20 years. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and challenging us to grow.

I always try to work on all four of these. I have tried to get more people to attend your weird lectures with me, and that’s always fun! Even people who seem totally disinterested usually seem to have weird stories of their own once you get them to open up.

Rebecca Kerekes

February 16, 2019

That was very eloquently written. Thank you for the shoutout to transdimensiional witches and for encouraging some much needed collaboration. I am looking forward to my first Paranormal Convention in Butler and to hearing you speak.

Very glad to have found your work. I agree with your insight on frustration. I would consider these feelings the ‘birth pangs’ of a new weird order. It is happening. Thank you for your contributions. There’s much here to dive in to. ^^